Integromat – A tool for automating manual processes | Hacker News Reader

Integromat – A tool for automating manual processes

integromat.com

57 pointsintegromat52 comments

"We have detected you are using an active AdBlock on your web browser. Please disable it. Do not worry, we will not bother you with ads. However, some parts of our website may not work properly or stop working, if your Adblocker is enabled."

If I can't read about your product with my adblocker on, your product isn't worth my time.

> If I can't read about your product with my adblocker on, your product isn't worth my time.

Maybe just put this in your HN profile? It's kind of repetitive to see those same comments over and over again whenever a website warns against ad blockers.

You can read and use everything, it's just a warning. We allready responded about this topic here: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=12268827

Ondrej, Integromat team

But you can read about it. I got the same message but as far as I could tell all the content was still available for me to read.

It looks good but I don't think that it's powerful than Zapier. Creating a workflow is harder than Zapier and integrations are not enough. I wanted to create a workflow that fetches data from an external RESTful API, parses the response and for each item of the response array performs another HTTP request and then finally merges the output the HTTP calls and sends a email to me. I'm not sure that this a common case but I can do it this in Zapier with Javascript and advanced transformation tool but I couldn't figure out how to create a workflow like this in Integromat.

You should really consider adding programming language support in order to be able to provide advanced features, otherwise it would be a service similar to IFTTT and I would pay it since IFTTT is free and easy to use.

It can be done with Integromat without writing a single line of code. This is the flow you need:

HTTP - Process a HTTP request

JSON - Parse JSON (parses the http request)

HTTP - Process a HTTP request (processed for each item in parsed JSON array)

Tools - Basic Aggregator (aggregates the JSON module, merges the output of inner HTTP module)

Email - Send an email (sends you an email)

Thats it.

Patrik, Integromat team

Looks interesting. I would suggest having a bunch of non-trivial examples of the services doing interesting things. Like checking a website at scheduled intervals, processing the contents with some logic, and then sending an email report. Preferably examples that don't require logins.

I found samples here: https://www.integromat.com/en/browse

I too found the landing page a bit lacking. The video's(which I don't normally watch but this looks like something I may use so I made an exception) main two use cases were literally "...like if something happens, do some action" and "...advanced users can use integromat to setup complex and very advanced integrations".

To the power users that are your target market these examples are basically vacuous and not useful at all. After watching the video I felt like I was no more informed as to the possibilities of the product. I assume this product integrates disparate products into a web based version of automator(apple's version of this locally) so something like "If someone praises or blasts you on twitter, have it posted to your slack 'way to go' channel or your customer service line instantly" or something like that. as the old saying goes... sell the sizzle not the steak.

Thanks. As a note to the site admins, I'd suggest making that page much more prominent. It's basically the first information I was looking for after the tagline -- what does it really do?

Thanks for the feedback Silhouette, much apreciated! We are aware of this and new homepage is comming next week. Ondrej, Integromat team

First question that popped in my mind: how is this better than IFTTT, Microsoft Flow, etc.

Integromat.com is an integration and automation service offering features that you won’t find on other similar services. We do everything that other automation services like Zapier or IFTTT offers, but we are adding a wide range of more advanced options. Here is a short overview:

* Automations can be very complex. You can automate an unlimited number of consecutive actions, not just 1:1 (if this:then that). Each action has at its disposal data returned by previous actions. This allows you to automate your entire workflow, not just one part.

* Integromat gives you the possibility to use built-in routers to duplicate any incoming data. Using routers, you can divide your scenario into multiple routes and process data separately in each route. More information can be found here: http://intm.at/b/4

* Integromat supports dynamically created inputs and outputs. Thanks to this feature you can, for example, call remote database procedures and map their input and output variables. It’s a function that you won´t find anywhere else.

* Built-in feeders are special modules that can split incoming data into multiple parts and then process each part separately. For example, if you receive an email with multiple attachments, you can handle each attachment separately.

* Aggregators, on the other hand, allow to merge individual data into a single bundle. We can, for example, create a ZIP archive of files contained in a specific folder and then save it or send it anywhere. More information on feeders and aggregators can be found here: http://intm.at/b/3

* We can work with files as if they were binary data. Therefore we do not need to know the path to a folder. This lets you, for example, transform images or work with file content as with a text. Another unique feature is the possibility to schedule webhooks. With Integromat you can, for example, make an automation that will gather text messages received on your mobile phone during a day and then at midnight select a winner. Standard webhooks are of course also supported.

* We support serialization and deserialization of JSON documents and give you the possibility to work with your data in any way. Nested objects or fields are no problem for us.

* Thanks to the transaction processing of data, Integromat is able to complete an entire automation as scheduled. In case of error, Integromat reverts all changes and restores the initial state. In short, it will either perform all actions as scheduled or nothing.

* Integromat stores incomplete runs (DLQ). If an automation encounters an error, we will save its state. This ensures that no data are lost. You can then fix the issue and continue executing from where it was stopped. * Perfect visualization of everything you do. From possibility to watch how your automation is being executed to visualization of data flow in the Execution history.

Currently, we support 105 services and thanks to the integrated support for the most widely used databases (MySQL, MS SQL, PostgreSQL) Integromat offers almost unlimited possibilities for automation. We continuously expand our list of supported services.

Here is a short video to show you how our user interface looks like. We focus on clarity and easy use: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K8Q9rh9VWEo

Basic accounts are free and gives you a chance to experience everything what Integromat has to offer.

Ondrej, Integromat Team

All these are cool features, but it would be great if there were a higher level expert system too.

For example, have expert templates for Subaru cars, that integrates dash.by and jiffy lube, my insurance, waze, the manufacture etc. then just apply common things I'd want in a single click.

* Such as schedule an oil change on my calendar on the weekend when I'd normally get my oil changed.

* Does my manufacture have any serious issues I should know about?

* Check how many miles I'm driving, and see if my insurance policy could be updated to reduce my rate.

* Suggest a gas station that's on my routes that are more cost effective than the one I'm using.

* Remember where I parked my car in case I forget.

* If I park in a 2hr zone, use pay by phone to pay the parking automatically for me.

* If I'm going to the Symphony, schedule a Lux to meet me out front.

Sounds a lot like Pentaho Data Integration

A small side note: I checked the footer for an "About" or "Team" page, but found nothing. Checked the "Contact" page and sure enough, it's an East-European company.

There seems to be a fear of publicly disclosing who is behind projects in the whole area. Ondrej, could you offer an opinion?

Hello, thanks for the suggestion, we will add "About us" page.

Anyway, Czech Republic is not in Eastern Europe. Prague is more to the west then Vienna :) We are Central Europe, like Germany (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Central_Europe) ;-)

We also have a branch based in US, as you saw on our Contact page.

Please, go to www.justice.cz (public register of compaines in Czech Republic) and enter our company ID number, as shown at Contact page, to the field Veřejný rejstřík. You will see the complete info about the company's structure, with owners etc. Everything is public, nothing hidden.

Prague is very cool! Just a related note but when giving support on a social site like this, its a nice touch to use a personal account and be a real human rather than using a faceless company account.

Thanks for the suggestion, you know, we are still learning :) Ondrej, Integromat team

It's a beta it's harsh to blame them for this !

I think thats fair. With services as this one you hand over lots of apps/services permissions, so a certain level of transparency about the company behind it is needed.

It could be a couple of guys doing it on the side and not wanting risk losing their day jobs while they see if this thing pans out.

Interesting UI; I really like the way you can rearrange things visually in way that makes sense to the user.

Was able to get a simple flow up and running quite fast. There are a few rough edges though, had a small issue with the URL field of the http integration.

Will try it out for more complex scenario's ...

I watched the demo video here to really understand it https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iUmF6_4WhSg and in that demo they sort files by matching strings in a MIME_TYPE. What kind of normal person has any idea what a MIME type is? I think the marketing targeting this at people who know no programming is a bit off -- or they should change the marketing and target developers -- we could probably use this too!

Thanks for the feedback John. We have launched public beta 10 weeks ago, so we are not yet fully prepared to provide all needed HOW-TOs to both developers and common users, but we are working hard to achieve that goal! Ondrej, Integromat team

Is this mean to compete with Zapier?

I like the concept but have personally never found a use for my workflow. Can somebody share their most popular / practical automation tips?

A few I've used:

- Pushing conversions on a website to a Slack channel

- Pushing conversions from a website into a CRM (like Salesforce IQ)

- Pushing conversions on a website to gsheets

- Get an update in Slack, email, etc. when something happens on a Github repo (new issue, PR, comment, etc.)

I'm not being dense, I promise, but can't all of these tools notify you by email as part of their own settings?

For example, we use shipstation and woocommerce, both can notify via email for just about any user action. I've seen the same from GitHub, at least in relation to comments.

Indeed. But Zapier provides a single place to manage all of those feeds. On top of that they integrate via APIs so you can push selective information/data as you see fit. Much more customizable than using built in notifications.

That makes sense, thanks :)

Small suggestion: "complexity" is not generally seen as a positive feature of a product. You might try "flexibility" or something like that.

This seems very well executed, at least the interface UX. I'll spend more time playing with it tonight to test the rest.

Very nice product. On the sidenote as I am from Czech Republic as well, are you looking for new people?

Hi Myslik, we are looking for Node.js developers, for more informations, please contact me at ondrej.gazda@integromat.com. Thanks, Ondrej

Any plans for Smartsheet integration?

Thanks for the suggestion, we will add it to our todo list. If you would like to get notified when it's done, please get in touch with us at support@integromat.com, so we will have your email and can let you know :) Thanks, Ondrej

Some UI screenshots would help.

Nitrogen, you can find it in our Help section, for example here: https://www.integromat.com/en/kb/first-scenario.html

And here is a short demonstration of our UI: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K8Q9rh9VWEo

Ondrej, Integromat team

How is this different from Zapier or IFTTT?

Hello, please look here: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=12268656

Ondrej, Integromat team

That's a first. And a huge put-off from continuing to view your site.. I closed it.

Eh, the warning is also easily dismissable (how often do you see that?) and they take no further action. Plus, they seem to be remembering the dismissal, and haven't showed me the warning since the first load. Definitely not an unreasonable message, although since their site works perfectly with my adblocker enabled, not sure if it's necessary.

I don't understand this mindset.

This site uses features some ad blockers block.

When you go to Google/Facebook/etc ad-management interface they too ask you to disable ad blockers because it directly interferes with the site functionality.

The two blocked files I see are track.min.js and js/ads.js! [Please turn off your adblocker so we can serve you ads and track you even if we say we won't.]

The level of items being blocked always depends on how the AdBlock is set up. As I wrote in my previous reply, it's just a warning, you can have AdBlock enabled but you might expect issues with social modules (like facebook, twitter and others).

Anyway, have you seen content of the files you mention? The first one is https://trackjs.com (tool for tracking client-side errors), second one serves just to detect AdBlock and show you the warning.

Patrik, Integromat team

Does this mean that your integrations run on the web browser rather than your servers?

Of course not, our servers do all the work :) We have a wide options for scheduling the runs.

Ondrej, Integromat Team

That makes since. Sorry for the premature conclusion.

We don't have any ads on the page. Reason for this warning is that AdBlock is limiting some functions of our page, and since we are focusing on providing high end service, we can't afford to have some parts of page blocked by adblockers. Hope you can understand that.

And you can always continue with AdBlocker on, since this is just a warning.

Patrik, Integromat team

Time for a better ad blocker then

Yeah I use Zapier and IFTTT with my AdBlocker on. So why would this break? Seems odd.

Here is possible to sort out email with more than one attachement.

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